Pondexter Named to National Team Pool

NEW YORK LIBERTY GUARD CAPPIE PONDEXTER NAMED TO

2014-16 USA BASKETBALL NATIONAL TEAM POOL

Pondexter joins 33-player pool vying for spot on 2016 U.S. Olympic Team

NEW YORK, NY – January 13, 2014 – New York Liberty guard Cappie Pondexter was named to the 33-player 2014-16 USA Basketball Women’s National Team pool, it was announced today. The 2014 USA World Championship Team and, if the U.S. qualifies, the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team will be selected from this group.

“I’m honored to still be given a chance to fulfill a lifetime dream of mine,” said Pondexter. “I’m excited for the process and look forward to one day wearing that USA jersey again.”

Pondexter was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team which won Gold in Beijing. The USA National Team pool will be fluid, and athletes may be added at any time by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee.

Highlighting the returning veterans are three-time Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi; two-time Olympic gold medalists Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker; 2012 Olympic gold medalists Tina Charles, Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen; and Kara Lawson, who was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. Further, Jayne Appel and Candice Dupree, members of the 2010 USA World Championship Team that won gold, have been named to the pool.

The USA Basketball Women’s National Team over the next three years will compete in the 2014 FIBA World Championship (Sept. 27 - Oct. 5 in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey), and if the USA qualifies, the 2016 Summer Olympic Games (Aug. 5 - 21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), as well as additional USA training camps and exhibition games.

Members of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee include USA Basketball women’s national team director Carol Callan; WNBA appointees Reneé Brown, WNBA chief of basketball operations and player relations, Dan Hughes, San Antonio Silver Stars head coach and general manager, and Chris Sienko, Connecticut Sun vice president and general manager; and three-time Olympic and two-time FIBA World Championship gold medalist and Liberty assistant coach Katie Smith, who played in nearly 200 games for USA Basketball from 1993-2008, and serves as the athlete representative.